Prius or Camry Hybrid?

Hatch back is the key word. If you will never haul anything as in never then the Camry is your choice. However, Prius is MIJ. And that is another show stopper for me.
Corolla Hybrid is out according to commercials.

Build Your Own Toyota | Toyota Configurator

 

There must be some sort of fuel efficiency techniques adopted on the LE Camry, or what? I'm still wondering y the LE outperforms the other trims(XLE and SE).

 

Ours are the same - 2 more basic models using 4.2 l/100km, and top model using 4.5 l/100k.

Only differences I can see which might make a difference:
- 18" vs 17" rims?
- a Sun/Moon Roof on the top model.
- Boot-lid spoiler on the top model.

 

In fact, there's been one living two blocks from me for several weeks.

 

I can see now that the wheel sizes really has impacted on the mgp on the Canadian ones.
MPG directly proportional to wheel size.

 

I assume MIJ is "made in Japan", so showstopper means you wouldn't buy the Camry?

 

? I don't understand ? I tried GOOGLING "showstopper" - nothing relevant.

 

Penny numbers of Prius sold in the UK so far this year, apparently. Corolla HSD — hatch and wagon — have done for it.

 

The old saying in show business is that "The show must go on." Anything that would stop the show (break the deal, cancel the project, etc.) would be a really big deal. Like if I was going to build a brick house and brick prices suddenly went to $50 each or something like that. That's a show stopper.

 

I thought that might have been it - I think I lost track of the conversation - I might read something else instead.

 

Can someone throw some light on why does mpg for the same vehicle drops when wheel size goes up...

I can't begin to understand this. My 2010 HiHy Ltd has 19" wheels - and if the above is really true and has logic and data to back it up, I would like to drop mine down to the standard 17" wheels.

Hare Krishna!

 

If you lift your car off the ground and attempt to drive it, you will observe that it still takes energy just to move the wheels round and round. If you put heavier wheels on, it will take more energy to spin the wheels the same number of turns. If you put lighter wheels on, it will take less energy. Less rotating mass in the wheel assembly = less energy needed for the trip.

Granted, you are recovering some fraction of this energy every time you use the regenerative brakes, but it would be better still if you didn't spend that energy in the first place.

So the trick is using wheels that are

...big enough for the task- a highlander is usually set up for rougher roads than a Prius.
...yet small enough to save energy (different distribution of mass between wheel & tire)
...strong enough so as not to break on typical obstacles relative to usage
...cheap enough as not to break the bank.​

You still need to match the outer diameter of the original tire. The brakes, odometer and gear ratios have been pre-set for that circle size. So if you change wheel size, make sure there is a tire size that gets you back to that same outer diameter.

Then find a combination of wheel + tire that offers the same outer physical dimensions that is also appropriate for your intended usage with less mass than the current set.

 

Heavier wheels?

More unsprung weight - back in the olden days if heavier/wider wheels were supplied new the car had a heavy duty suspension - but I can't see that they did that on PRIUS?

Greater wind resistance?

Greater road contact resistance?

 

That's it. When you drive, you are always temporarily storing energy in the four wheels spinning under you. You are also using them to transmit power to the road, but you have to get them spinning to do that. When you want to stop, you harvest some of that rotational inertia.... but it's always less than you spent to get them going.

In my previous post I suggested imagining the car up on a lift- a mental device to divorce the power transmitted to the road from the power used to put the wheels in an appropriate state to transfer power, i.e. spinning.

Lighter wheel+tire assemblies mean faster acceleration (given the same power) or less energy spent (given the same acceleration)

To further refine:

Automobile wheel size does NOT have an effect on power efficiency.

Wheel mass DOES, and when you're dealing with mass-produced OEM factory wheels they coincidentally tend to gain mass with size.

 

Back in the '70s, it was the done thing here to buy a standard Holden or Falcon:


with a relatively gutless 161 or 186 cu-in engine. Then lower it, put a HotDog muffler on, wide wheels, de-badge it - and drive it like a lunatic. Some would put hot heads, twin carbs (slurp) and headers to gain some more horses.


A few mates did - they often discovered that wide wheels didn't always improve the car - particularly in the wet with big wide wheels. I think the problem was that the steering geometry was designed for the stock wheels, but they were more inclined to aquaplane. Pre-power steering meant that it was so heavy their girlfriends couldn't drive it.

But back in those days - pre fuel crisis, people weren't particularly concerned about MPG but some were wicked in how much fuel they used.

 

The word "showstopper" is a contranym, that is, a word that is its own antonym (such as, for example, "cleave", "dust", and "lease").

"Showstopper" had a positive meaning in the context of show business, because the show ground to a halt due to excessive applause. Think of Ethyl Merman singing "I've Got Rhythm". Nowadays, however, "showstopper" usually has the negative meaning of a project that cannot proceed due to the lack or failure of a critical component.

 

Thanks. That's an important nuance that I'd forgotten about.

 

If you haven't made your purchase. Coming from a 2014 Camry Hybrid LE to a
2017 Prius II.
While the Prius gets better gas mileage, the Camry has a bigger tank I could drive
at least 500 mi by the time my gas tank reached a 1/4.
The upside of the Prius vs the Camry is that its more responsive.
The handling is like driving a sports car. The upshot is that my Prius is
a practical toy. Like others have said the hatchback is a huge plus. The trunk
space in the Camry is adequate but with the hatch back you have way more
capacity.